Mailing Systems Technology - September/October 2008 - (Page 8) Peer to Peer BY MARK FALLON Consideration for Others “A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” — Oscar Wilde Growing up, the local newspaper had a “Quote of the Day” feature. Sometimes, my mother would point out a quote that would make her smile. If she thought a quote was one I should remember, she would cut it out and hand it to me. To this day, I still collect quotes that carry lessons. I was in college when she handed me the Oscar Wilde quote. Up to that moment, I’d limited my definition of a gentleman to someone with good manners. I opened doors for others, said “sir” and “ma’am” and knew how to order in a restaurant. Now, I had to be considerate of the feelings of others? For the hardcore business types tempted to skip this article because it’s about soft skills like “consideration” and “feelings,” don’t be so quick. Soft skills have a direct impact on hard numbers — like employee productivity, customer retention and profits. Besides, your mother would consider not finishing the article as being impolite. Most of us have memories of our mothers as caregivers who put their own needs last. Mothers are special people with an exclusive place in our hearts. And like you, I know that my mother is an “extra-special” person. Although I’m one of 10 kids, my mother always took time to make me feel that I was the most important person in the world to her at that moment. Perhaps it was a few words of encouragement, taking a moment to listen or giving a needed hug. And I’ve seen her do the same for my brothers and sisters. And now she does the same for her 18 grandchildren and 3 great-grandsons. Even with this crowd around her, my mother still succeeds at providing individual attention to each person. Attention with consideration for how we feel. The first time my wife met my family was at a large gathering to celebrate the christening of one of my nieces. We had only been dating a few weeks and I was subjecting her to the 8 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2008 | WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM http://www.kirkrudy.com http://www.kirkrudy.com http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com
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